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Fish on the Half-Shell and Fried Flounder

I don’t know if it’s the passing of the old year, the beginning of the new, or this dreary weather, but my creative juices took a nap and haven’t woken up yet.

Hence, the boring title above, although I toyed with “Black fish, red fish, flat fish, cooked fish; and a couple others even less creative.

No matter what the title of this cooking post, however, the fish were very creatively cooked and tasted way less than boring.

LilSis and husband, RenRed came down to spend some of his vacation time with us on the bayou. He hunted for deer (zero) and ducks (zero) and fished for reds (zero). On Wednesday night, though, I received a text from Choup (who posts here) saying that the boardwalk at his camp was infested with red drum and flounder.

So, next day, off we went, Hubig pies and empty ice chest in tow, through the saltwater marsh down to Choup’s camp. He and his guests were already busy fishing, but he graciously stopped long enough to show us the technique:

Let out about six feet of line, drop the jig head and plastic bait down to the bottom, walk along the boardwalk, slowing jigging the bait up and down. Sounded easy enough.

In no time, I flopped a flounder onto the boardwalk. Soon after, RenRed landed an edible black drum using the same jigging method. Choup landed a few more flounder, and we both snagged a red fish.

After the bite slowed, Choup generously and quickly cleaned all the fish and sent us home with the black drum, a red drum, and two flounder for our supper.

The red drum and black drum are related, so we were anxious to taste them side by side, cooked the exact same way.

First, we seasoned the drum fillets with Louisiana Cajun Seasoning and Blackened Fish Seasoning. Next, we made a marinade using the juice of fresh-squeezed Meyer lemons, from my friend J.G.’s tree. We placed the seasoned fillets in a big zip seal bag and poured the lemon juice in and let them soak in the frig about half an hour.

Meanwhile . . .

the whole flounder were scored on the top surface, salted and peppered and placed in the frig to await the frying pan.

RenRed placed the fillets, scale side down, on medium heat on the gas grill, basting them with melted butter. The fish were NEVER turned, and near the end, he poured the rest of the marinade over them. The fillets take only about fifteen minutes to become fork flaky. They were then removed from heat, covered with foil, and rested for a few minutes.

While the red and black drum were grilling, the flounder were dropped into a zipper seal bag of seasoned Louisiana Fish Fry, before diving into a pan of leftover “turkey frying” peanut oil.

I placed the flounder in the hot oil, scored side down first. Each side cooked for about two and a half minutes, and the result was fish that flaked off the bones with a fork.

Weren’t the flounder beautiful? Even the fins and tail tasted good!

Since there is no grocery store on the bayou that sells any kind of fresh fruits or veggies, we had to make do with what we had on hand.

So we heated up sweet potatoes leftover from the mini pies LilSis and I made two days before. The French bread was leftover from the family meal of chicken and andouille gumbo the night before.

If you look right in the middle of the plate, you will see a dab of sauce. That, my friends, is not just any sauce–but a homemade tartar sauce made from a product that is not yet on the market.

That’s right. We were testing a brand new product that is about to come out soon, which I will have the honor of launching on this blog, with some of you out-of-state folks winning a jar (since it won’t be in your state yet) so that you can taste this divine concoction.

Sorry to tease you like that, but all I’m allowed to do right now is whet your appetite for some good fresh, cooked fish and some fresh tartar sauce to go with it.

I’m sure today you are too full of smothered cabbage and black-eyed peas and cornbread to be tempted by this post, but one day you will hopefully be inspired to grill up some fillets or fry some whole fish, the old-fashioned pan-fried way.

This sounds good. I have found a recipe for a lemon cream/ice box pie that I love. You dump everything including the eggs in the pan and start cooking and stirring. When it boils for 2 min., just dump it into a prebaked crust and refrigerate. It is very good.

Traditional speed trap. It is 25 mph between bridges including the 2 miles of nothing. Doubled my vacation expenses right there. Almost had to play the Ike_Du card. Also if you do the speed limits it is not a short cut.

Looks good BW,sister makes all our tartar sauce and a great dill sauce that goes well with fish also but I am always willing to try out new stuff.
Pizza here tonite for supper,I cooked last night.cubed Canada goose breasts that I country fried,country gravey from a mix and biskets that a local makes and the local country store sells them frozen,turned out great.

Crabbing has been great up until this last freeze,water temps went to the mid 40s inshore and they buried up but we have had a few warm days now and rain so I am going tomorrow to see what the new year brings.Price is good and sales are good,hopefully the scare of gul;f seafood from the spill is fading.

The fish in this post came from very near Grand Isle . . . an area treated with Corexit dispersant. I guess if we were going to get sick from eating them, we would have done so already. So I proclaim THE SEAFOOD IS SAFE TO EAT!
Wishing you a good catch!

All those beautiful fish are making me hungry! They all looked delicious. Can’t wait to hear about the product you’re launching. Had fresh greens out of the garden, blackeyed peas, baked sweet potatoes, cornbread and porkloin roast for new years dinner. Happy New Year!

I just throw a piece of plastic wrap over the laptop. It’s easier than bibs. LOL! We’re leaving Mon. and returning Sat. Five days of water, and I won’t have a rod and reel. THAT’S JUST NOT RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!

You’ll be so stuffed with the spread they put out for you, you won’t even think about fishing!!! Yes, do have a grand time, and I have an assignment for you. Two things: Did you get bored at any time? What was your favorite thing to do while on board?

BW, we had corned beef with cabbage, black eyed peas and a 3-alarm pepper loaded cheddar! And cornbread of course. But, no matter how stuffed, I can always find room for fried or grilled fish! I always fix an extra fillet or two because, I love them cold also.

Will be looking forward to that new product for tarter sauce. I make mine a lot but, I’m willing to try new products. Never know if you like it until you try it.

I love being on the water and doing the actual act of fishing. I just can’t eat what’s caught.

I’ve got friends and relatives that think I’m certify-able. I’ve tried this, I’ve tasted that, I’ve tried the other. I will try anything once. Sometimes, even two or three times. The only thing I have ever found palatable was smoked marlin, which I saw/tasted once and have never seen again.

That being said, I can tell when fish/seafood is done right or when a recipe would be good and what side dishes will go well with it. I can also cook it, though I may have a clothespin on my nose! I guess it’s from seeing it fixed so often. Or maybe an innate sense of what’s right, seafood-wise?

Your pictures and descriptions of how things were prepared should have your fish-loving readers drooling.

P.S. I brought my Dad by to see a few of your entries. He was really interested, as he’s always been an outdoorsman. He’s 83 now, almost 84. Due to health issues, he no longer gets out much and can no longer fish or hunt. I left him with a link to your entries here but he’s not very computer literate. I may have to give him a refresher course, the next time I go up to visit him. He’s about a 4 hour drive away, so I go up every 6-8 weeks.

Well, I guess I’ll give you the first “PASS” of 2011. You don’t have to eat fish/seafood, but it’s sure a good thing you don’t live on this bayou, cher, or you would STARVE!!!! So glad you introduced your dad to the stories. To make it easy, use the Category drop down menu, and click on Fishing. It will list, from newest to oldest, all the posts related to fishing. That makes things easier. Also, there is a category for hunting, and it’s best to start reading oldest to newest because some of the stories are progressive. And I GUARANTEE you, he will enjoy some of the duck hunting stories!!!!! Thanks again for sharing! BW

Courtney, I have to apologize and tell you that I know we’ve communicated in the past; but this brain does not have much RAM left (can’t clear out the old stuff, ya know?), so could you please send me a message through a contact box at the bottom of the About page refreshing my memory? That way, we can email back and forth and talk about this adoption thing! LOL! HNY! BW